Automatic pneumatic piano.



A. F.. LARSON & K. O.'OSTERGREN.

AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC PIANO.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1908.

Patented Mar. 16, 1909.

yxjtnesses;

MC -50 0 t A torvze 27a UNITED STATES PATENT oEEroE.

AXEL F. LARSON AND KARL O. OSTERGREN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TOMARQUETTE PIANO COMPANY, OF CRYSTAL FALLS, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OFMICHIGAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

AUTOMATIC PNEUMATIC PIANO.

Patented March 16, 1909.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, AxEL F. LARSON and KARL O. OSTERGREN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and Stateof Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inAutomatic Pneumatic Pianos, of which the following is a full, clear,concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, forming a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to automatic pneumatic pianos and contemplates animproved arrangement of lever mechanism for controlling the operation ofpneumatic mechanisms.

In instruments of the class referred to lever mechanism is usuallyprovided for controlling the general operation of pneumatic mechanismsand auxiliary lever mechanism is associated with the general levermechanism to control special operations of the pneumatic mechanisms, andthe object of our invention is to provide improved construction andarrangement of such controlling lever mechanisms.

Our invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a side elevation of controlling lever mechanismmounted on the under side of a piano keyboard. Fig. 2 is a plan Viewlooking at the lever mechanism from below and showing also more or lessdiagrammatically the valve mechanisms controlled by the levers; and Fig.3 is a sectional view taken on plane 3, 3 Fig. 1.

The main controlling lever 1 is pivoted at an intermediary point to theunder side of the keyboard shelf 2 ofa piano or other instrument, ascrew 3 serving as a pivot means and a washer 4 being inserted betweenthe lever and the support 2. The rear end of this lever is connected bymeans of connecting rod 5 with valve mechanism 6, which may control somepneumatic mechanism, as for example, the motor driving the music sheetover the trackerboard. By moving the front end of the lever in a lateralplane, this valve mechanism is adjusted to determine the speed of themotor. It is very desirable, however, to be able to give a generalsetting of the valve mechanism for a general 0 eration of the motor andof the music s ieet and to have in addition some auxiliary means forcausing a special change in the operation of the controlled pneumaticmechanism without disturbing the setting for the general operationthereof. For example, it is desirable to be able to set the speed of themusic sheet motor for a general tempo and to provide auxiliary easilyoperated controlling mechanism for producing variations in this speedwithout disturbing the setting of the main controlling mechanism. If themain controlling mechanism were actuated for these special adjustments,it would require considerable care to bring the main controllingmechanism back to the desired general tempo. However, by having thisauxiliary adjusting mechanism the general tempo setting can be permanentand special adjustments made independently. We obtain this auxiliaryadjustment by means of an auxiliary lever 7 pivoted at an intermediarypoint to the main lever 1 as by means of a screw or bolt 8 and a washer9 interposed between the levers. A connecting rod 10 is pivoted at 10 tothe rear end of the auxiliary lever and lies in a lane which isperpendicular to the main ever and which passes through the center ofpivot 3 of this main lever. The other end of the connecting rod mounts avalve 11 for controlling a passageway 12 through the valve frame 13.This valve frame is interposed in the exhaust supply path from themotor, that is, it controls the air flow through the main valve 6. Theauxiliary lever is bodily carried by the main lever and owing to thepivot arrangements described, the main lever may be rotated about thepivot 3, without causing perceptible movement of the valve 11, which maybe normally open, as shown, to allow for passage way to the main valve6. The auxiliary lever may, however, be rotated independently of themain lever to cause operation of the valve 11 to control the passagewayto the main valve, the usual mode of operation being to set the mainlever to adjustthe main valve 5 for a desired general tempo andthereafter to actuate the auxiliary lever to cause the valve 11 toeffect special adjustments of the tempo. The main lever remainingstationary after an initial setting, the maintenance of the generaltempo is assured.

The front section 14 of the main lever bends down and has its end 15turned upwardly. Pivoted to the end section 14 by means of a screw 16 isthe grip lever 17. Pivoted to the under side of the section 14 by meansof screw 16 is the grip lever 18 for the auxiliary lever, a washer 19being interposed between the lever 18 and the section 14, and a spring20 being interposed between the head of screw 16 and the lever 17, nut21 engaging the lower end of the screw. The up-turned end 15 is cutaway, as shown in lAig. 3 to leave an abutment wall 22 and an entrancewall 28, between which is the retaining pocket 24, which normallyreceives the lever 17. The front end 25 of auxiliary lever 7 is turneddown for engaging in the notch 26 cut in the rear edge of the grip lever18. A spring 27 engages the auxiliary lever 7 and tends to rotate it tothe position shown in Fig. 2, with the pivot 10 a slight distance fromthe pivot 3, in which position the valve 11 is open. In this position ofthe auxiliary lever the grip lever 18 is in inclined position, as shown.By moving the outer end of lever 18 toward the lever 17, the auxiliarylever will be rotated in counter-clockwise direction and valve 11 movedto close passageway 12. Upon release of lever 18 this lever and theauxiliary lever will be returned to their normal position by the spring27. By the arrangement of the grip levers as shown, these levers, whichnormally extend beyond the front edge of the piano keyboard, can berotated to a position within said edge. By first raising the end oflever 17, it will clear the wall 23 and both levers can then be swungtogether to a position underneath the keyboard. When it is desired touse the levers they are swung to their operative position, lever 17passing over the beveled approach wall 23 to be locked in its pocket 24by the spring 20. The end of lever 17 can then be held between the thumband middle finger and the lever 18 controlled by the index finger.

The arrangement of main and auxiliary lever mechanisms as abovedescribed is very simple, yet very effective. All the parts can be madeof wood and placed in positions where other mechanisms will not beinterfered with.

We desire to secure the following claims by Letters Patent:

1. In automatic pneumatically operated instruments, the combination ofpneumatic mechanism to be controlled, main lever mechanism, means to beactuated by said main lever mechanism for controlling the passageway ofair to the pneumatic mechanism, an auxiliary lever mechanism, means tobe actuated by said auxiliary lever mechanism for controlling the flowof air to the pneumatic mechanism, said auxiliary lever mechanism beingcarried by the main lever mechanism, said main lever mechanism beingpivoted and said auxiliary lever mechanism having pivotal connectionwith the means to be actuated by said lever, said pivotal connectionsbeing close together so that movement of the main lever mechanism can beindependent of movement of the means to be actuated by the auxiliarylever mechanism.

2. In a pneumatic playing instrument, the combination of pneumaticmechanism to be controlled, valve mechanism for controlling saidpneumatic mechanism, a main lever pivoted at an intermediary point andconnected at one end with said valve mechanism whereby rotation of saidmain lever will cause adjustment of the valve mechanism and therebyadjustment of air flow for the pneumatic mechanism, an auxiliary leverpivoted to the main lever, additional valve mechanism for controllingthe flow of air for the pneumatic mechanism through the fi rst-mentionedvalve mechanism, a connecting rod connecting one end of the auxiliarylever with the additional valve mechanism and lying in a plane normallyat right angles with the main lever and passing through the pivot axisof said main lever whereby rotation of said main lever can resultwithout causing appreciable movement of the additional valve mechanism.

3. In a pneumatically operated instrument, the combination of a mainlever and an. auxiliary lever running in the same general direction,said main lever being pivoted at an intermediary point to the frame ofthe instrument, said auxiliary lever being pivoted to the main lever tobe rotated in aplane parallel with that of the main lever, pneumaticmechanism, controlling mechanism for controlling the flow of air forsaid pneumatic mechanism, one end of said. main lever being connectedwith. said controlling mechanism, additional con trolling mechanism forcontrolling the flow of air for the pneumatic mechanism, connectingmechanism between one end of the auxiliary lever and said additionalcontrolling mechanism, the connection of such connecting mechanism withthe auxiliary lever being such that effective operation of theadditional controlling mechanism is prevented upon rotation of the maincontrolling lever, rotation of the auxiliary lever causing effectiveoperation of the additional controlling mechanism.

4. In a pneumatically operated piano, the combination of the keyboardsupporting shelf, pneumatic mechanism within the piano, valve mechanismfor said pneumatic mechanism, a main controlling lever extendingrearwardly from the front edge of the shelf and pivoted at anintermediary point to said shelf, the rear end of said lever beingconnected with said valve mechanism, an auxiliary controlling mechanismpivoted to the main lever at a point between the pivot of the main leverand its front end, auxiliary valve mechanism for the pneumatic mechanismconnected. with the rear end of said auxiliary lever, the rear end ofsaid auxiliary lever being adjacent to the pivot point of the main leverwhereby movements of the main lever will be independent of the auxiliaryvalve mechanism.

5. In a pneumatically operated piano, the combination of the keyboard suporting shelf, pneumatic mechanismwithin t 1e piano, valve mechanism forsaid pneumatic mechanism, a main controlling lever extending rearwardlyfrom the front edge of the shelf and ivoted at an intermediary point tosaid shelf, the rear end of said lever being connected with said valvemechanism, an auxiliary controlling mechanism pivoted to the main leverat apoint between the pivot of the main lever and its front end,auxiliary valve mechanism forthe pneumatic mechanism connected with therear end of said auxiliary lever, the rear end of sald anxlhary leverbeing adjacent to the pivot point of the main 20 lever whereby movementsof the main lever will be independent of the auxiliary valve mechanism,and pivoted ends for said levers normally extending beyond the frontedge of the shelf and adapted to be forwarded to a position within thefront edge.

In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 7th day ofNovember A. D.

AXE-L F. LARSON. KARL O. OSTERGREN. Vitnesses:

LEONARD W. NOVANDER, GEORGE E. HIGHAM.

